Changing rear brake shoes (with mediocre pics)

I didn't really come across a good write up on replacing the rear brake shoes. So ill throw up some pics of what I did (with the guidance of Andy) in case anyone needs a quick reference.

Tools:

Vice grips, possibly 2
Rear spring/washer remover tool
spring grip tool (if you have it)
screw driver
hammer
punch
vice
misc. general crap


extra parts:

brake cleaner
appropriate replacement brake shoes with hardware



So, step one is to get the truck up on a jack stand. Put the truck in park and chalk the wheels. I just put it under the axle housing on the side i was working on enough to get the tire off the ground. Once the tire is off you have to take off the drum. You can pound on it with a hammer around the studs and around the top to break it free. you can also pry at in in between the drum and the dust shield with a flat head screw driver.


Once the drum is off you have access to the rear brake assembly. There are a ton of parts, but it's not that hard. The only key thing is to make sure when you take it all off, and remember exactly how it all goes back on. Taking a picture or two will help you for reference.




Step one is removing the e brake cable. It is actually not in the picture, but its not hard. Just stretch it out and pull it out from the little track its in, then you can remove it from the clip on the left side and it will pop out of the stopper on the right side.



Step 2 is removing the lower spring. This is where you want some thin needle nose vice grips and the screw driver. You have to just man handle it and pry is out of the holes the springs are stuck in and stretch em out enough to pull them out. Don't be too timid about clamping down on them and prying at them, they are pretty durable springs.


Step 3 is removing the spring that tightens the adjustment screw lock. Similar to the lower spring, just get the vice grips on it and pry it off.


Step 4 is removing the pins and springs that go through the center of the shoes and hold them some what in place. This is where the fancy tool for this comes in handy, because it cups the slotted washer and lets you twist it, but im sure vice grips of pliers will work. just don't bend it. You hold the back of the pin (located on the backside of the backing plate) with your finger and twist the washer until the spring pushes it off the pin. then you can take everything out and set it down in the same way it came off. Do both of them.



Now for step 5 you can remove both brake shoes with the main spring and adjuster attached. Just spread the shoes apart and pull the whole thing off and around the end of the hub. Also pull off that metal plate that the spring was attatched to in step 3.

By this point everything should be off the truck and on the ground.



Now you get to pry the main spring off. Good luck. This is where a couple of vice grips (or a special tool) come in handy, to really stretch out that spring so you can pry it off.




Now you have just the shoes with all of the hardware laid out how it should go back on. This would be a good time to clean everything.

Next we have to take one of our new shoes and put in a new pin that the adjuster lock sits on. This pin (along with other pieces) should come with the shoes. Make sure you put the pin in and stake it facing the right way (when in doubt, look at the pieces that came off)



The pin is tricky because it has to be stamped on. What I did was put the pin in the brake shoe and in a vice, and take a center punch, and start pounding on the pin in the center to spread it. I pounded it until it started to split and fan out then I kept hitting it. Then I took the hammer and pounded on the pin and flattened it out to get it to stay in place. You can kind of see in this picture in the bottom left where the silver pin is flattened out.




After you get a new pin in, it is time to replace the e brake plate on the other shoe. Also supplied in the kit are 2 new pins and 2 horse shoe rings (one of each per side). Making sure the pin is going in the right way, just hammer in the head of the pin (is is going to take some beating to get a snug fit). You can also place the head of the pin flat on a metal surface (i used a vice) and pound the brake shoe around the pin to press it on all the way. Then place that e brake plate over the pin, tighten the horse shoe clip, and hammer that sucker on, and tighten it again. move the plate around to make sure it pivots around that pin easily without walking the clip off.






Now that the new shoes are all ready it is time to put everything back together exactly how you took it off. This is also a good time to adjust that adjustment bolt all the way in to get the drum to fit back on, we will tighten it back up for the right fit once everything is assembled. To tighten it, and move the bolt in it gets turned to the right. To push the adjustment bolt out turn it to the left.

Putting it all back on is the reverse of taking it off. Place the adjustment bolt back in it's slot.

Stretch out the main spring and place it back in it's correct spot. Make sure it is on the right way as well before you put everything back together. This is not fun to have to take all apart an extra time.

Wrong way, derp.


Correct way



After the adjustment screw is on, and the main spring is put back on in the correct place, slip on the metal plate over the small pin you stamped on and the spring you removed in step 3. (yes part of this step is backwards from how it got taken off, its easier to have that plate and little spring on before you put the brake shoes back over the hub)



Once those are all on you can slip the whole assembly back over the end of the hub in the correct place. Then put back on the center pins and springs you removed in step 4.

Now replace the bottom spring you removed in step 2, and re attach the e brake cable you removed in step one.



Good job, now everything should be back together and reassembled the way it came off. Now you have to adjust the brakes for the drum. You want the drum to slide on with some resistance. Not too much, but it shouldn't slip on like it's been buttered.


If the drum does not fit over the brake shoes, and you need to tighten the adjustment screw (bring the shoes closer together), push back the adjustment plate (the thing sitting in the teeth of the adjustment screw in the back of the picture) and rotate the screw to the right. If you need to push the shoes out against the drum, move the screw to the left. When going to the left you should hear the little metal plate click as the teeth go over it.




Once it is all good put the drum back on, put the tire on, tighten the lugs and you should be good to go.




NOTE!

On the other side (drivers side), the layout is mirrored. The e brake lever is on the left instead of the right.


Doing the other side



Finished





It might also be a good idea to bleed the brakes if you messed with the brake lines in any way at all. It only takes a minute.

 

+1


One thing i would have done is replace the wheel cylinders while i was in there

 

meh, already spent 200 bucks dealing with the bearing. had enough with that axle. If its not broken, didnt want to mess with it haha.

 

Thanks for the write up and pictures. I've got everything back together, I just can't get that main spring pulled over enough to connect. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

I would.add that to remove the drum to start with a good saturation of penetrating oil.
also a couple of the small holes between the studs arr threaded to be used as a puller of sorts.

 

Subd

 

Nice write up. How long did this take you?

 

This wouldnt be too much different from a 2nd gen would it? Its about that time for my rear brakes to get done.

 

ehh... subd. I need to do mine before Moab.

 

Drum brakes are pretty much universal for the last few decades. I've always popped both drums but only work on 1 side at a time. The other side is any easy reference if you lose track of how its supposed to look.

 

Good write up man you are lucky mine, are/were a mass of rusted parts and mud! I messed with mine for 2hrs and put all the old stuff back on and bought an fj 80 axle, no more drums . No more jungle gym of springs, and adjusters.

 

Subbed

 

I did my rear drum breaks on my 04 Tacoma yesterday and it took me about 4 hours. Why so long you ask? I cleaned, greased, and double checked everything. I am going to check them again as soon as I drive it around for about 10 miles. Its not a daily driver and sits in my driveway & mostly gets driven on road trips. I did not want to take it to a shop that would have taken 30 min and not do what I did. All I have to do now is adjust the e-brake.

 

Here's an excellent video from Timmy the Toolman

 

I know this was posted a while ago, but can anyone tell me if that was done to a 2nd Gen Tacoma? I mean we are on the 2nd gen tacomaworld.com site right?

 

1st gen fourm section

 

thanks

 

Also remember to put brake grease on the 6 spots per the FSM.

 

How many miles did those shoes have on them? they look pretty good from the pics...